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1. Defensive End - Andre Carter came into form this year and made his presence known coming off the edge but he is going to need more help to avoid double teams going forward. The Redskins have a promising young situational pass rusher in Chris Wilson but they don't have anyone in the wings to take over for the quickly aging and deteriorating Phillip Daniels. Daniels still has some production value left in the tank but he's just about lost his ability to get pressure on the quarterback which has severely hurt our pass defense.

2. Cornerback - Greg Blache has always been adamant about having strong cornerbacks as a staple to a quality defense. When healthy the starting 3 (Springs, Smoot, and Rogers) are very strong but theres is absolutely no quality depth after that. It is also possible that Springs could be a cap casualty or possibly traded this offseason and there is a risk that Carlos could struggle coming back off his injury last season.

3. Wide Receiver - The skins have solid slot and flanker receivers with Moss and Randle El but theres no one on the roster that fits the bill for a split end. The Skins need to look for a possession style receiver with soft hands who doesn't mind going across the middle and taking a hit. It is more than likely that the Redskins will look to get this done via trade or free agency. Don't be surprised to see them make a serious run at Chad Johnson or Roy Williams.

4. Offensive Guard - Injuries the past couple seasons have really shown the Redskins lack of depth on the offensive line. I have guard listed higher than tackle because our starting two guards are respectively 33 and 34 years old next season and our number 1 backup is a defensive tackle who played his first time at guard this past season. In a WCO look for us to go after a VERY athletic guard in the 305-310 range.

5. Outside Linebacker - The skins suffered 2 terrible injuries on defense this past season. The first was at CB with Rogers and then they lost a young stud LB (McIntosh) with a torn ACL and MCL around week 10. There is potential that he could be ready for the 08/09 season but I would be surprised to see him in action before week 6. The skins are set at MLB with London Fletcher and HB Blades but they need another outside guy as depth and an eventual replacement for Marcus Washington.

6. Offensive Tackle - If Jansen is let go for cap reasons than this need immediately moves up to the 2 spot. Potentially even the 1 spot. I think though that Jansen will renegotiate a new contract and stick around a few more years before retiring. Stephon Heyer had a roller coaster rookie year while Jansen was injured and it looks like he is no more than a solid career backup in the NFL. Even if Jansen works out a new contract I am still worried that with the multitude of his injuries and his age that he will slowly start taking a few steps back in productivity.

7a. Defensive Tackle - Cornelius Griffin is still a stud and Anthony Montgomery has been an absolute draft steal. I also really like Gholston in terms of depth but Blache has made it public that he would like to bring in a 3 technique penetrating player to groom as Griffins replacement.

7b. Strong Safety - The skins lost one of the best defenders in the NFL this year to a tragic death. Laron Landry slid over into Sean Taylors position at FS and showed that he is a more dominant player and more comfortable in that role. Reed Doughty was a hidden gem at SS, especially in the box but I'm not sold that he will be able to keep up playing at that level. The staff seems to like him and until he proves otherwise he deserves the starting spot. Adding depth at the position is more than likely a luxury given our other needs but it isnt out of hte question.

Comment

great analysis dirty, its sad how bad our depth is on the defensive side of the ball... we pretty much need every posistion except for fs and mlb on defense right now and our offensive depth inst much better.. although it would be nice to get chad or roy i think its best to keep all our picks and build through the draft and take best player available pretty much in all rounds because we have that many holes on this team

Blanche wants him re-signed, but we'll see what happens. A lot depends on FA. If the Skins get a DE in FA than I could easily see the Skins spending an early pick on a CB (someone to groom when Springs is gone in a year or two).

Comment

What does everyone think of our corner situation? If Springs leaves, we have NO depth at cornerback, but if he stays, do we pick up another corner in free agency or the draft? or at all?

This isn't the best news I have heard all year...

i'm not too thrilled about it at all... your right and even if springs does stay we stay lack depth and if he leaves then we are really gonna lack a true #1 cb. smoot played pretty good this year but rogers wont be back for a while next year and he really is a #2 at best along with smoot and then after that there is no quality at all at the posisition... depending of how fa goes we definetly need to adress that posistion early on in the draft

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Well, i lean towards what dirtythirty wants more than our g.m. snyderatto said in radio interview.
But i know who is calling the shots.

I dont expect the skins to take a d.e. on day one.
With little in the way of cap space i dont think it was a good idea to change to w.c.o. as we will need to spend to give zorn what he wants at the expense of the defense.

FREE AGENCY;
with the lack of cash i would want to see us land a d.t.,a w.r. ,a strong safety to battle doughty and keep q.b. todd collins.
DRAFT;
would have liked
round 1= a d.e. like merling
round 2=c.b. as not only is springs old and rogers injured BUT smoot never stays 100&#37; healthy.
round 3=offensive guard, preferably left side.
round 5=offensive guard that can play center.
round 6=B.P.A. from either kicker or punter.
Dont want to see us draft another q.b. like palmer when there is hollenbach.Draft a q.b. another year when we know how campbell is progressing.Or not.
round 7=special teams guy,maybe a kick/punt returner as rock cartwright is looking gone.
Dont use a draft pick this year on a back-up F.B. look at the undrafted guys.
Manuel white and nemo haven't worked for us and this is something they could look at in future years.

Comment

i have always fully expected rogers to miss the first 4 or so weeks of the season. i think that springs will resign as he and blache have a good relationship and hes not going to get paid any more anywhere else at his age more than likely. he has very strong ties with other guys on this team and hes always said he doesnt want to move his family. even if he stays, cb is still a big area of concern and needs to be addressed at some point.

in a similar situation i dont expect rocky to be ready by week 5 or 6 either.

Executive vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato outlined the Redskins' needs in an interview with Redskins Radio's Larry Michael and Bram Weinstein on Feb. 15.

The Redskins' offense have played without a tall, rangy wide receiver for several years. With head coach Jim Zorn installing the West Coast offense this year, it's thought that a big receiver is needed to run specific routes in that scheme.

Cornerback has become a need position due to Carlos Rogers's knee ligament surgery last November. Rogers is expected to be full-go by September or October, according to director of sports medicine Bubba Tyer.

Said Cerrato: "Depending on Carlos, we'll probably have to look to the draft and get a corner."

Cerrato also pointed to the need for an interior defensive lineman "who has some pass-rushing ability."

Said Cerrato: "Everybody talks about how you need a pass-rushing left end, but Andre Carter had 10.5 sacks from the right side, and from the left side Marcus and Chris Wilson had nine sacks. So to add some more pass rush up the middle would be something we'd look at."

Cerrato said the prototype for this type of defensive lineman would be the New York Giants' Justin Tuck, who had 10 sacks last season alternating at end and tackle.

Cerrato added the team would like to add another young defensive end to develop, as well as improve depth at linebacker and safety.

The Redskins could also look to bring in a "swing offensive lineman" who can play center/guard or tackle/guard.

"You have to be a versatile guy," Cerrato said.

A backup fullback to Mike Sellers is also a need because the West Coast offense requires more depth at fullback, Cerrato said.

Currently, the Redskins have Nehemiah Broughton as the only other fullback on the roster behind Sellers. Broughton is coming off a knee injury suffered last offseason. "

With all that in mind I wouldn't be surprised to see a WR through FA or trade and then something along these lines in the draft: